Electric treadmill with a folding mechanism

ABSTRACT

An electric treadmill with a folding mechanism includes a handrail frame pivotably mounted at both sides of the front end of the base frame. A guide plate having a sliding groove, two link plates, and a positioning plate attached to the handrail frame are provided between both sides of the base frame and the handrail frame. The guide plate is connected to a sliding support of a ground-touching roller. The sliding support is pivotably coupled to the bottom of the base frame. According to the assembly of the above-mentioned components, when the base frame is lifted in a folded position, a slide pin of the link plates is movable in the sliding groove of the guide plate until the base frame is folded in an upright position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Fields of the Invention

The invention relates to an electric treadmill with a folding mechanism by use of two swivel pieces, and more particularly, to a treadmill that permits a stable support in a folded-up position. Moreover, the entire volume of the treadmill in the folded-up position is effectively reduced.

2. Description of the Related Art

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 12/815,409 titled “electric treadmill with a folding mechanism by use of a swivel piece”. According to the prior art, the supporting assembly has to be mounted near the middle portion of the base frame for maintaining the folding and supporting stability. Moreover, the folding peak of the base frame is not at an optimal folding angle perpendicular to the ground. Therefore, the entire volume of the treadmill in a folded position can't be effectively and considerably reduced. Moreover, people tend to worry about the fact that the base frame folded in an inclined position may fall down in an unexpected way, thereby affecting the safety. Thus, a further improvement is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide an electric treadmill with a folding mechanism in which collapsible components are deliberately so small dimensioned that they can be interposed between a base frame and a handrail frame in a concentrated manner, thereby achieving an optimal folding angle and increasing the tightness between the components. In addition to drastically reducing the vibration in use, the stability in supporting the base frame is improved as well.

According to the invention, an electric treadmill with a folding mechanism includes a handrail frame pivotably mounted at both sides of the front end of the base frame. A guide plate having a sliding groove, two link plates, and a positioning plate attached to the handrail frame are provided between both sides of the base frame and the handrail frame. The guide plate is connected to a sliding support of a ground-touching roller. The sliding support is pivotably coupled to the bottom of the base frame. According to the assembly of the above-mentioned components, when the base frame is lifted in a folded position, a slide pin of the link plates is movable in the sliding groove of the guide plate until the base frame is folded in an upright position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accomplishment of this and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and its accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective assembly view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of a first step in assembling the components according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a second step in assembling the components according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of a third step in assembling the components according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a fourth step in assembling the components according to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the electric treadmill according to the invention in a first folded-up position;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the electric treadmill according to the invention in a second folded-up position;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the electric treadmill according to the invention in a third folded-up position; and

FIG. 9 is a side view of the electric treadmill according to the invention in a fourth folded-up position;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention will now be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings that show various embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 6, a treadmill 10 according to the invention includes a continuous moving belt 13 positioned around a base frame 11 and driven by an electric motor 12. A handrail frame 14 is mounted at both sides of a front end of the base frame 11, respectively. The bottom of the front end of the base frame 21 is provided with a front support frame 16 driven by a lifting motor 15 for adjusting the supporting angle of the base frame 11 that stands for the exercise slope. Moreover, several ground-touching elements 17 are fitted to the bottom of a rear side of the base frame 11.

A guide plate 21 having a sliding groove 20, two link plates 30, 31, and a positioning plate 40 attached to the handrail frame 14 are provided between both sides of the base frame 11 and the handrail frame 14. The guide plate 21 is connected to a sliding support 51 of a ground-touching roller 50. Moreover, the sliding support 51 is pivotably coupled to the bottom of the base frame 11. According to the assembly of the above-mentioned components, when the base frame 11 is lifted in a folded position, a slide pin 32 of the link plates 30, 31 is movable in the sliding groove 20 of the guide plate 21 until the base frame 11 is folded in an upright position.

The link plates 30, 31 are pivotably secured to corresponding pivots 11A, 11B of the base frame 11.

The sliding support 51 is pushed by a telescopic cylinder 60. The telescopic cylinder 60 provides an auxiliary push in folding up the base frame 11 and fulfills a positioning effect when the base frame 11 is located in a folded position. This art belongs to the prior art and is not the characteristics of the invention so that no further descriptions thereto are given hereinafter.

In order to ensure a smooth operation of the above-mentioned components, an elastic element 22 is interposed between the guide plate 21 and a handrail positioning plate 40.

FIG. 6 through FIG. 9 show the continuous operation according to the invention. In order to get a clear glimpse of the operation of the collapsible components, the handrail frame 14, the elastic element 22 and the handrail positioning plate 40 at the other side of a treadmill are removed. In this way, the coupled bending process of the link plates 30, 31 and the synchronic movement of the slide pin 32 in the sliding groove 20 of the guide plate 21 are visible. Accordingly, the feasibility of the invention can be understood more easily. Similarly, when the base frame 11 is unfolded in a horizontal operation position, the above-mentioned components will be reversely operated and rapidly returned to their original position by means of the resilience of the elastic element 22.

Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiments of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An electric treadmill with a folding mechanism, the treadmill having a continuous moving belt positioned around a base frame and driven by an electric motor, a handrail frame being mounted at both sides of the front end of the base frame, the bottom of the front end of the base frame being provided with a front support frame driven by a lifting motor for adjusting the supporting angle of the base frame, several ground-touching elements being fitted to the bottom of the rear side of the base frame, wherein a guide plate having a sliding groove, two link plates, and a positioning plate attached to the handrail frame are provided between both sides of the base frame and the handrail frame; wherein the guide plate is connected to a sliding support of a ground-touching roller; wherein the sliding support is pivotably coupled to the bottom of the base frame, whereby according to the assembly of the above-mentioned components, when the base frame is lifted in a folded position, a slide pin of the link plates is movable in the sliding groove of the guide plate until the base frame is folded in an upright position.
 2. The electric treadmill with a folding mechanism as recited in claim 1, wherein the link plates are pivotably secured to corresponding pivots of the base frame.
 3. The electric treadmill with a folding mechanism as recited in claim 1, wherein an elastic element is interposed between the guide plate and a handrail positioning plate. 